Economic Redevelopment: Raleigh Street Extension opens new gateway

April 28, 2013

MARTINSBURG - One of the promises of extending Raleigh Street from Race Street to Edwin Miller Boulevard was opening land for economic development.

That promise is beginning to come true.

The old Thorn Lumber Co. property at the southern end of the Raleigh Street Extension is being prepared for redevelopment.

Article Photos

Photo courtesy of Michael Covell

A view of the Thorn Lumber Co. property is seen from the new Raleigh Street Extension. The site is being cleared for redevelopment by the owner.

"It's a work in progress," Rob Mohler said Tuesday. "There are a lot of ideas, but it's too soon to tell. In the long term, it will be a positive impact, but I don't want to throw something up that's not good for the community."

Mohler's family has owned the historic lumber company for three generations and his family has worked at the business even longer.

His father, known as Butch, was president of Thorn Lumber Co. until his death in 2002.

"I left in 1983," Mohler said.

Living in Winchester, he is a truss and structural designer, continuing the family tradition.

The retail side of the lumber busniess ceased operations in 1996, but the company continued to make trusses until 2002, he said.

Harry Peter and Mary Elizabeth Thorn founded the company around 1897. They were originally from Gettysburg, Pa.

Under the Mohler family's guidance, the company had a concrete plant on site, supplying concrete for several large construction projects throughout the area, including Interstate 81, Mohler said.

Thorn made doors for companies in New Hampshire and Michigan, he said.

"We tried a little bit of everything, but mostly value-added products, manufactured products," Mohler said. "But small, family businesses have been taken over by the big-box stores."

Sitting on about five acres at 310 N. Raleigh St., the business was obscured from public view, he said, but with the extension of Raleigh Street, the site "is no longer obscure."

The property borders the new street with direct access it.

Working with the city's engineering and planning department for about a year and a half, Mohler is demolishing 17 of the 18 structures on the property. He expects all to be razed within a couple of weeks.

The former office and show room is now leased to a church. It will remain.

Mohler has a lot of memories of the family business and the sight of the demolition has had an emotional effect on him, he said.

"I've rationalized it," he said. "You've got to clear the slate to make room for new memories."

Mohler sees the Raleigh Street Extension as a great opportunity for the city and the Thorn Lumber Co. property as a prime location for economic development.

"My dream of dreams is a multi-use community with retail, office and residential space, where people can walk to work and shop and play," he said. "But time will tell."

With the completion of the Raleigh Street Extension about six months away, Martinsburg officials were interested in addressing properties along the new route that were in need of attention, City Manger Mark Baldwin said recently.

"The Thorn property has been a great success without having to resort to code enforcement," he said, commending Michael Covell, head of the city's engineering, planning and zoning department, for working with Mohler and Mohler's cooperation.

"It's a new entry to the city - it could be exciting," Covell said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "We try to promote redevelopment, revitilization. We like to see people succeed."